A Feeling Of Comfort
by Sarah the Swinub
Summary: A drabble about how Yuna met Tidus and came to trust him. Oneshot.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own Final Fantasy X – that joy is reserved for Square Enix, lucky them. I do own a copy however, so neener neener neener to...someone! Also, I used the actual game script at several instances during this fic which I found atFinal Fantasy Worlds Apart.

**Author's Note:** I've been in a major writing slump for a while but you know how sometimes something completely random just gives a sudden inspiration to write some random Yuna drabble? Well, maybe you don't but that's what happened to me – random dreams are good, my friend! So, yeah, nice little ficlet (I use the word 'nice' very loosely here) about how Yuna met and came to trust Tidus. It's a third person Yuna focus and follows the game hopefully very closely.

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**A Feeling Of Comfort**

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Yuna had always seen herself as a rational sort of person. She was the kind of girl who liked to think out her actions before she made them and not jump rashly into any decision. She didn't know if that made her a boring person – she hoped it didn't, being boring was not a desirable characteristic – but the idea of being the kind of person who did make their choices on spur of the moment was one that vaguely scared her.

Of course, this all seemed to change when she met him.

She knew that starting her pilgrimage to Zanarkand to obtain the Final Aeon and defeat Sin would be one that ended in her death. Maybe it was this constant knowledge of her seemingly inevitable demise that kept her from making a conscious effort to make close friends. She tried to be nice to everyone and she was very fond of everyone in Besaid village – a community that had welcomed her and cared for her ever since she arrived with Kimahri ten years previously – yet she didn't feel as if she was as close to the villagers as she could have been.

Kimahri, of course, was by her side near-constantly and she loved him as her parental figure since the death of her father – a death identical to the one that awaited her. She considered him to be a close friend that she could rely on and confide in – Kimahri's trustworthy and loyal nature made these qualities quite obvious to her.

Lulu and Wakka were also two of her closest companions and she was glad of their company. Lulu took on the role of older sister to the girl of five years junior and Wakka was the kind older brother that every girl wanted, Yuna felt. The death of Wakka's younger brother and Lulu's lover Chappu a year previously in a Crusader fight against Sin had had a notable effect on the pair but Yuna was secretly glad of the brave face they put on for her and the rest of the villagers – it made it much easier to sympathise. The two of them loved and truly cared for her, which is one of the reasons Yuna was so glad that they, along with Kimahri, would accompany her on the pilgrimage.

When the day of her pilgrimage was almost upon them, Yuna felt apprehensive, not for the first time, and considered abandoning the ideal of becoming a Summoner in the selfish desire to not sacrifice herself for Spira. Yet upon seeing the hopeful faces of the Besaid villagers and hearing the encouraging words of her friends, she straightened her back and walked into the temple, the cloister of trials and the fayth with her head held high and Lulu and Kimahri at her side.

As Yuna knelt before the fayth and began to offer up her prayers, she felt her feelings of fear slowly dissipate and eventually leave her. She didn't know how long she had been praying – the passing of time seemed to have no meaning in that small room with the hymn of the fayth constantly flowing through the air – but when she finally received her first aeon, Valefor, she was released from her somewhat trance-like state and re-realised where she was and, by the feeling of tiredness in her limbs, that a fair amount of time must have gone by.

As Yuna raised her head from the surprisingly warm stone floor of the fayth chamber, she realised that she must have fallen asleep in her exhaustion and that it was high time she left this place to begin her pilgrimage. Rising to her feet, her head swam with the unfamiliarity of the Aeon nestled inside her consciousness and she stumbled slightly as she made her way towards the door back out towards her guardians and friends.

The door of the fayth slid upwards and Yuna leaned against the wall as it rose, panting slightly. Shaking her head in a futile attempt to clear her vision, she started on down the stairs towards the assembled figures. However, she lost her balance and began to fall yet she was quickly caught in Kimahri's strong arms and set on her feet once more. Thanking him, she pushed her hair out of her face and her eyes swam as she took in the room – the distinctive tall blue figure of Kimahri beside her, the black dress and pale skin of Lulu that appeared as a mere blob to her scrambled brain. However, two others had joined the gathering since she had entered the fayth; the blob of orange gave away Wakka's presence immediately but the yellow-y figure was new to her. Her vision swam some more as she turned to her audience and said:

"I've done it. I have...become a Summoner!"

Making her way down to the base of the stairs, Yuna took Lulu's proffered arm and hung onto Kimahri's as she slowly left the cloister of trials and made her way out of the temple and into the sunlight. She was only dimly aware of Lulu pushing a cup of water towards her, which she drank thankfully, and even less aware of Wakka and the other, unknown person following behind them at a distance.

Once she had regained her bearings, Yuna made her way out to the main village plaza where a large crowd had gathered for the upcoming show. She saw Wakka beckoning over a young man about her own age over that she was unfamiliar with. However, upon registering his bright blond hair and yellow jacket, she assumed he was the yellow figure she had seen with her guardians. She thought for a fleeting moment that he resembled the late Chappu but, thinking no more of it then, she nodded at Wakka and slowly raised her staff into the air. Yuna somehow innately knew what she had to do and once intricate dance later, the clouds above her parted and the aeon Valefor swooped down in front of her.

Despite its admittedly terrifying appearance, Valefor seemed to exude a feeling of gentleness instead of the expected feeling of terror. Yuna tentatively raised one hand and Valefor bent its head compliantly to receive a stroke of its head and neck before being dismissed and jumping up once more into the sky.

Yuna was suddenly inundated with hugs and pats on the back from the various townsfolk that had gathered around to watch her. Letting a smile wash over her face, she chatted happily with those around her while others talked of a large celebration that night. However, as she shook peoples' hands and laughed along with the children, her mind wandered back to that strange young man. Now that she thought about it, he wore clothes that she had never seen before – maybe it was fashionable to wear such garments in Luca or Bevelle when a large city held many types of people, yet she in her small village upon a tiny island wore a simpler garb.

He seemed an interesting sort, all right, and she vowed to herself that she would try to talk to him later that night. Who knows, maybe they could become friends? It wasn't as if Yuna felt she had anything to lose, befriending someone new the night before she left as it was unlikely she would see him again and there was little risk of becoming too emotionally attached and her doubts about dying returning once more.

The rest of the afternoon was a haze of congratulations and making the necessary arrangements for her departure tomorrow. It was very hard to pack what she needed with someone new entering her home every few minutes to tell her what a fantastic show that had been and they hoped her pilgrimage went well. At one point, Wakka entered and Yuna took the initiative of asking him about the new guy.

Yuna listened to his story with interest – the young man, apparently named Tidus, was found by Wakka and the Aurochs floating just off the shore inside the cove where the boys liked to practice their Blitzball. He seemed to have no idea how he got there or even about basic history, such as the arrival of Sin a thousand years previously. Also - Wakka's voice took on a ludicrous tone – he said his seemingly amazing Blitzball skills came from his playing with a team called the Zanarkand Abes; this story quickly being followed by his revelation that he'd recently had an encounter with Sin.

Upon entering the village, Tidus apparently caused quite a stir down at the temple by asking what a High Summoner was and causing the Crusaders a fair bit of alarm by his lack of knowledge of Sin or the Crusaders themselves. After staying at Wakka's for a nap, he heard of Yuna's confinement inside the fayth of more than a day and, in his worry that some misfortune had befallen her, ignored the priest entirely and entered the Cloister of Trials to find her. Wakka soon caught up with him and the two of them met up with Lulu and Kimahri shortly before Yuna left the fayth.

After Wakka had left, Yuna took a break from packing and sat on her bed to contemplate this young man, this Tidus. She had never heard of someone so blatantly defying the strict teachings of Yevon and doing what he had done – enter the sacred areas of the temple without regard to his lack of status as a summoner or guardian, just to see if she was all right. He had never met her and didn't even know her name when he came to see her condition for himself – defied the teachings of Yevon for someone he didn't even know! That was the sort of rash decision that Yuna felt she never could have made herself, though maybe it would be a good thing to learn to make these decisions. If she was to be a Summoner then she should do her best to try and help others along the way of her pilgrimage. In a drastic situation, she would not have the luxury of sitting down to consider all possible options and their viability for every situation that she encountered. No, she needed to be more like Tidus.

---

That night, at the bonfire in the centre of the village where she had summoned Valefor previously that afternoon, Yuna got her chance to talk to this curious young man. She was sitting with the elderly couple and their grandchild – the generation in the middle had been taken by Sin a few years previously – when she heard the Auroch boys making some sort of ruckus on the other side of the bonfire. She smiled as their chants of "Victory! Victory! Victory!" became louder and more energetic, culminating in a loud cheer and a lot of fist-pumping, as those boys were so fond of doing.

Smiling, Yuna returned to her conversation but out of the corner of her eye she saw Tidus looking at her from his position with Wakka and the now-rowdy Aurochs. As he made his way over towards her, Yuna went through several excuses in her mind so that she could go over to talk to him. However, before the situation arose, the old couple and the girl had started to yell abuse at him for his stunt earlier today at the temple. Feeling rather sorry for him, Yuna got up and went over, ignoring a cry for her safety and replying that it was her fault.

"I'm Yuna," she greeted Tidus with, smiling in a way she hoped conveyed her apologies for her companions. "Thank you so much for your help earlier." Tidus looked rather flustered at her thanks and rubbed the back of his head embarrassedly.

"I'm sorry about that." he replied, taking his turn to be apologetic. "Wasn't that...Wasn't I not supposed to...Guess I...kind of overreacted." he turned slightly redder at his sudden stutter, smiling nervously back at her.

Yuna shook her head emphatically. "Oh, no. I was...overconfident.", feeling an odd urge to try and make the young man feel more at ease with the situation – if he really had encountered Sin and become affected by its toxin, she could at least try to be nice to him so that he felt less like an outsider in their little village.

Tidus' discomfort seemed to diminish and he stopped rubbing his head in a characteristic display of embarrassment. "Um, I saw that aeon thing. That's amazing!" he said, waving his arms in a way as if to symbolize what he was saying.

Yuna felt her eyes light up, the compliment making her smile widen. Deciding to be a bit nasty and attempt to test the knowledge he had gained from the high priest earlier, she said "Really? Do you think I can become High Summoner?" Tidus merely grinned and nodded at her.

Tidus looked as if he were about to say something more but the young girl from before dashed up to take her hand and implore Yuna to play with her some more. She smiled and nodded down at the youngster and turned back to Tidus to say her farewells.

"So, tomorrow then." she said, giving a sort of goodbye-but-not-for-long smile to him. However, the statement seemed to completely confuse him.

"Tomorrow?" he asked, his hand returning to the back of his head in an act of confusion.

"We're going on the same boat, aren't we?" Yuna pressed, gesturing towards the dock with the hand that the youngster wasn't swinging on.

"Oh, really?" a blank look had appeared on Tidus' face and Yuna had to resist the urge to laugh.

"We can talk more," Yuna nodded, starting to turn away. "You can tell me all about Zanarkand!" she called over her shoulder as the child led her away. Tidus' expression changed at the word 'Zanarkand' and Yuna remembered Wakka's disbelieving tone at the boy's apparent hometown. She must be the only one so far to have seemed to believe his story, Yuna guessed.

---

The travelling through Besaid to the port, the boat ride to Kilika – complete with interrupted conversation between Tidus and herself about Zanarkand and Sir Jecht, who turned out to bear a striking similarity to Tidus' presumed-dead father – the attack by Sin and the sending at Kilika port seemed to go by so quickly but yet so slowly at the same time. Yuna knew that this feeling made no sense but what she did know was that somewhere along the way; she had gained a certain attachment to this strange young man.

Tidus was so unlike anyone she had ever met in the past, not only in appearance but in personality as well. He seemed completely innocent of the ways of a world terrorised by Sin and his optimistic personality seemed to be catching. She found herself smiling more and more these days and she knew that it was entirely through Tidus' influence.

At the back of her mind, however, there was always that niggling piece of information that once they reached Luca that Tidus would be able to find his lost team – his extraordinary skills indicated that he had to belong to a team of some sort – and he would leave them to their pilgrimage and return to his normal life. Yuna knew that was in his best interests but she still couldn't shake her wish that he would remain with them for maybe just a little while longer.

She knew that there was little chance she could persuade him to remain with them once they reached their next port of call but if what he said was true, then maybe his true home was in Zanarkand and there was little chance of him finding a Blitzball team in Luca that was also from Zanarkand. If that was the case, then maybe he would stay with them...they both wanted to get to Zanarkand, did they not?

---

When the time came for Yuna and her companions to go into Kilika Woods and find the temple, Wakka and Tidus arrived last. Before they arrived, Yuna revealed to Lulu and Kimahri her desire for Tidus to become her guardian along with her other three friends. Kimahri was completely silent at this revelation and Yuna could not read his expression so she had no idea whether he was for or against this idea. Lulu, however, was very sceptical and when Tidus and Wakka arrived, she spoke up immediately.

"Yuna's saying she wants you with us." she said, addressing Tidus in a tone that indicated it was entirely his fault and he put this crazy idea into Yuna's head in the first place. Tidus was, understandably, surprised at this announcement, though Wakka seemed even more surprised.

"Yuna! What? This is no time for jokes, ya? He may be a Blitzball whiz kid, but up against fiends, he's a newbie." he cried, imploring her. Yuna shrugged her shoulders and smiled softly at the ground.

"Not a guardian, then...I just want him nearby." she replied, surprising even herself with how open she was with her thoughts. Again, probably due to Tidus' influential presence, she reasoned. Wakka seemed even more shocked and just stared at Yuna in complete astonishment. Tidus at last spoke up.

"What? What do you mean?" he asked, sounding just as bewildered as he looked. Yuna raised her eyes to meet his and quickly forced down the red tinge that was threatening to appear on her face.

"It's just that, well..." she stumbled slightly over her words, not really knowing what she was going to say. Fortunately, Lulu stepped in at that moment.

"We're all going to the temple anyway. Can't this wait 'til later?" she interjected, glowering slightly at Tidus before leading Wakka away to follow Kimahri's long strides. Yuna looked back at Tidus and smiled embarrassedly.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-" she began, looking back down at the grass below their feet.

"There's nothing to be sorry about. I'm just not really sure what's going on." Tidus cut in, stopping her apology short. He smiled reassuringly at Yuna before nodding slightly towards the receding backs of their companions.

"My apologies." said Yuna, nodding back and running alongside Tidus to catch up with the rest of her guardians.

---

Yuna was very grateful that Tidus accepted her invitation to be her guardian. She didn't know what truly made him decide to become a guardian, though it could have been through Wakka's compliments towards his prowess in battle against the Sinspawn or maybe her own words to Dona inside the temple that her guardians were all her friends that she trusted completely.

Yuna hoped that her frequent words of comfort and trust to Tidus had made him feel as if he could become a true friend to her yet she was always slightly worried that he would fall to pieces if they became too close and she then died in the fight against Sin. If they had switched roles, she knew that she would be completely distraught to lose Tidus in any way.

Later on, when Yuna had time to be with her own thoughts, she wondered what she would have said as a way of excusing her sudden desire for Tidus to join them on their pilgrimage to Zanarkand. She sat in thought for a long time, mulling over the topic but she eventually decided that it was the way he made her feel. She didn't know this feeling before she had met Tidus and she didn't know what it truly was either. Was this true friendship? Was this even love?

All she knew is that he gave her a feeling of comfort and that was enough for her.

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**The End**


End file.
